Shoe and the manufacture thereof



April 28, 1936. J V H 2,038,644

SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed Sept. 12, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l WEKZ J -M April 28, 1936.

J. CAVANAGH I 2,038,644

SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept 12, 1954 Patented Apr. 28, 1936 SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF James Cavanagh, Gohasset, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation ot-New Jmcy Application September 17., 1e34, Serial No. 743,654 16' Claims. (01. 1z 142) shoes and the manufacture thereof and is illustrated herein with'reference to the manufacture of compo shoes. 5 In the manufacture of compo shoes,-it is customary to prepare the overlasted marginalportion of a leather shoe upper for the reception of the sole-attaching cement by roughening or scouring the upper, thereby removing the surface layer of the leather which is usually of such a character and is so finished as to interfere with the obtaining of a reliable cement bond between the outsole and the upper. In my copending application Serial No. 601,372, filed March 26, 1932, there is disclosed an improved method of making compo shoes in accordance with which the outsole, instead of being attached by'cement directly to the overlasted margin of the upper, is cement-attached to a strip of tape ornther fabric which has preliminarily been stitched to the outer surface of the -marginal portion of the upper, the tape being of such a character as to provide a secure anchorage for the sole-attaching cement.

One object of the present invention is to provide still further improvements in the manufacture of compo shoes thereby to eliminateboth the roughening of the overlasted margins of the uppers and the application of the outsole-attach This invention relates -to improvements in mg cement in liquid form.

With this object in view, the invention provides an improved method of makingshoes havingv cement-attached soles which, in one aspect, contemplates employing as a source or the soleattaching cement a strip 'of fabric tape orthe like having strands of fibrous material, such as fibrous cellulose derivative, of such a nature that it is readily capable of being converted into cement .by the action thereon of a selected solvent, for example acetone, and having other strands of a more inert material which is insoluble in the selected solvent. In practice of improved method, the tape is secured to the margin of the upper by means of fastenings, for ex- .ample, stitches, composed of material that is insoluble'in the selected solvent, which engage" the insoluble strands of the pe- As herein exemplified; a woven tape is employed, the warp threads of which are composed of cellulose ester fibers, such as cellulose acetate fibers, while the weft or filler threads comprise fibers of a more inert material, such as cotton or and the stitches which secure the tape to the upper are inserted before the upper is assembled with an 55 insoleonalastandarearrangedinaphn-ality ofrowslocatedbetweenorsubstantiallyparallel to the warp threads and aproximately parallel to the edge of the upper, the individual stitches encircling the filler threads and anchoringthemsecmelytotheupper..withsucha cement under the sole-attaching pressure. At

thesametime,thisnetworkissecuredtothe upper by the stitching or other fastenings so that when the cement becomes set or hardened it is firmly united with the uppereven though theupperhasnotbeenroughenedintheusual waytoprepare it for the recepfionofthecement; Moreover, byemploying p suchasherein describedasasourceofsole-attachingcement,it beeomesimnecessaryioapplycementinliquid i'ormtotheupperortothesoleandthuscleanlinesatthisstageoftheshoemakingoperations is greatly facilitated.

Itistoberecognizedthatinvenfionresides alsoinashoelipperhavingsecuredtoitsmarginalportionandextendingparallcltoitsedge asu'ipoi'fabricsuchastapeatleastsome of thethreadsorstmndsofwhicharecomposed of a readily soluble cellulose derivative,

Considered in another aspect, the invention consistsinashoecomprisinganupper,anoutsole, 'a layer of cement interposed between the outsole and the marginal porfion of the upper, and a coherent'network of material, preferably of afibrous nature, embeddedinthecementand securedtotheupper V The inventionwillnowbe describedwithrefcrencetothe accompanying-drawings, inwhich Fig. lisaplanviewoftheassmnbledupper materialsofashoeastheyappearbeforebeing applied to a last,'the view showing afabric tape havingwarpthreadsofcellulosederivaiivesecm-edbysiitchingtothelowermarginatthe outer side of the upper; .l 'ig.2isabottomplanviewoftheuppera fter ithasbeenlastedoveraninsoleonalast;

Fig.3isaviewsirnilartofig.2,butillustrafing the omission of the tape around the toeof the shoe; e

figAisafragmentarycross-sectionalviewbn anenlarged scalethroughtheovcrlastcdmarginoftheupperindicatingmoreorlescmven-5 tionally the tape and the stitching which secures the tape to the upper;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view, illustrating-the operation of applying solvent to the tape; and

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken through the forepart of a shoe on a lastafter the outsole has been laid and secured to the upper.

-In making shoes in accordance with the present'invention, the uppers are prepared in the usual way, the patterns used in cutting uppers having been'accurately drafted to insure that no great amount of material will have to be trimmed from the lasting allowance after the lasting operation. Thereafter, the tape which is to be acted upon by a solvent to produce the outsoleattaching cement is applied to the outer surface of the marginal portion of the upper and securely fastened thereto.

"As illustrated in Fig. 1, a strip of woven tape I0 is secured flat against the outer marginal surface of the upper I2 by fastening devices such as rows of stitching l4 (Figs. 4 and 5) extending substantially parallel to the edge of the upper, the tape l0 extending from the vicinity of the heel breast line at one side of the upper forwardly around the toe and thenrearwardly approximately to the heel breast line at the opposite side'lof the upper. In order to avoid such puckering or pleating of the tape at the toe of the upper as might take place during the pulling over and lasting of the upper at the toe of the shoe, the tape ID, if desired, may be applied to the upper so that it will extend forwardly only approximately as far as the tip line of the upper, as illustrated in Fig. 3, thus leaving the margin of the upper at the toe of the shoe to be roughened in a customary manner, as indicated at I6, and attached to the outsole by means of pyroxylin cement applied in the usual way.

The illustrated tape l0 consists of longitudinally extending warp threads l8 and transversely-disposed weft or filler threads 20, the Warp threads l8 being composed of'fibrous material, for example cellulose esters, such as cellulose acetate or cellulose nitrate, or cellulose ethers,

but only that the lines of stitching extend in such as ethyl cellulose or benzyl cellulose, which are readily soluble in organic solvents, for example, acetone, to form cement while the weft ,threads are composed of fibers or relatively insoluble material, such as cotton or linen. The several rows of stitches l4, which are also composed of relatively insoluble fibrous material, are shown extending between the warp threads l8, as more or less conventionally shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the individual stitches encircling the weft threads 20 and extending through the upper 12, thereby securely anchoring the tape to the upper. In practice, however, it is not essential that the stitches 20 be located between the warp threads directions substantially parallel to the warp threads so that the stitches together with the weft threads will form a coherent network for controlling the spread of the cement produced by the action of the solvent upon the warp threads.

If a doubler is used, as indicated at 22 in Fig. 4,

the stitches [4 would naturally extend through the doubler as well as through the upper.

Whether the stitches l4 extend through the lining 24 is a matter of choice. Moreover, the tape I0 need not necessarily be woven inasmuch as it may be braided or otherwise fabricated so as to comprise threads which extend more or less Fausse.

are assembled upon a last 28 and the shoe' is pulled over and lasted in any usual or suitable manner. As illustrated, the upper is secured in overlasted relation at the sides of the shoe by means of fastenings, such as staples 30, as shown in Figs. 3, 6 and 7, which may be anchored in the substance of the insole 26 without extending through to the inner surfaceof the insole. The

shoe may advantageously be side 'lastedin this fashion by the employment, for example, of the staple side lasting machine shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,815,297, granted July 21, 1931, upon an application filed in the name of George Doddu. The toe portion of the shoe may conveniently be cement lasted, for example, in a bed lasting machine with the aid of the toe plate or binder disclosed in an applica ion for Letters- Patent of the United States Serial No. 362,753, filed May 3, 1929, in the name of Joseph The heel .end of the upper, as illustrated, 'is' secured in lasted relation by means of tacks.

It should be understood, however, that the lasting reduced in thickness in its shank'portion only or around its forepart also, as may be desired, and the entire marginal portion of the sole at its attaching side roughened, for example, by means of a rotating wire brush,'to insure the-formation of asatisfactory bond between the material of the sole and the attaching cement.

To prepare the bottom of the shoe for the reception of the outsole 32, in cases where the tape Ill extends around the toe of the shoe as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, it is onlynecessary to apply'a solvent,. such as acetone, by means, for example, of a brush, as illustrated at 34 in Fig. 6, so as to soften the cellulose acetate warp threads of the tape, thereby converting theni into cement. The:

shoe and the outsoleare then brought together in proper relative positions and placed under pressure, this operation being performed, for example, in a cement sole attachingmachine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,897,105, granted February 14;, 1933, upon an application of Milton H. Ballard. The pressure supplied by a-sole attaching machine of this type causes the cement derived from the tape III to fill the meshes of the network comprising the cotton or linen weft or other transversely extending threads 20 and the stitching ll. During this period, the weft or other relatively insoluble, transversely extending threads and the attaching stitches constitute a coherent network, more from the press, the cement will have penetrated the material of.the outsole and become firmly bonded thereto. Moreover, the cement will be. also firmly secured or anchored to the shoe upper by means of the stitches I4, the latter engaging the relatively insoluble transverse threads which are firmly embedded in the hardened cement. It

will therefore be seen that by employing the tape it and stitching it to the upper, as herein described, the usual roughening of the upper mate- I rial is rendered unnecessary in order' to insure ,a

satisfactory. bonding 'of the'cement to the upper.

I be coated with liquid pyroxylin. cement and allowed to dry and likewise the liquid cement will also be applied to the toe portion of the roughened margin of the outsole and allowed to dry.

Thereafter, the dry cement at the toe portions of the upper and the outsole will; be activated by the application of a solvent thereto.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the l United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of making shoeshaving cement-attached soles which comprises applying to the margin of a shoe upper a strip of textile fabric having threads extending in one direction and comprising fibers capable of being converted into-cement bythe. action of a selected solvent thereon and having also threads which extend in another direction and are not soluble in said solvent and securing said relatively non-soluble threads to the margin of the upper, lasting the upper, applying a quantity of the selected solvent to said strip, and shortly thereafter applying a sole to theshoe bottom and maintaining the sole and the shoe under pressure until the cement formed by the action of the solvent has set sufiiciently' to secure the sole to the shoe.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes having cement-attached soles which comprises applying to the margin of a shoeupper a strip of woven tape having warp threads comprising fibers convertible into cement by the action of a selected solvent thereon and filler threads comprising fibers which are not soluble in said solvent and securing said strip of tape to the upper by fastenings engaging said filler threads,

lasting the upper, applying a quantity of the selected solvent to said strip, and shortly thereafter applyinga-sole to-the shoebottom and main-' taining the shoe and sole under pressure until the cement'formed by the action of the solvent upon the warpthreadsgof the strip-of tape has set sufficiently to secure the sole to the shoe.

' 3. That improvementin methods of making shoes having cement-attached soleswhich comprises applying to the, margin of a shoe upper a strip of woven tape having warp threads capable of producing cement when acted upon by an organic solvent .and filler threads-wl. Zch are insoluble in said solvent, securing said strip of tape to the margin of the upper by a plurality of rows of stitches extending in the direction of said warp threads and encircling said filler threads,

, 3 said stitches being insoluble in said solvent, lasting the upper, applying said solvent to said tape,

and thereafter applying a sole to the'shoe-bottom and maintainingthe shoe and sole under pressure until the cement formed by the action of the solvent upon the warp threads of the tape has set sufliciently to attach the sole to the shoe.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes havingcement-attached soles which cornprises applying to the margin of a shoeupper a strip of textile fabric having threadscomposed of cellulose ester fibers and transversely extend ing threads composed of fibers of a material more inert than esters of cellulose, stitching said strip of tape to the margin of the ,upper by means of stitches encircling said transversely extending threads, lasting the upper, applying to said tape a solvent for said gellulose ester threads, and thereafter applying a sole to the shoe bottom and maintaining the shoe and sole under pressure untilthe cement formed by the action of the solvent upon said cellulose ester threads has set sufliciently to secure the sole to the shoe.

5. That improvment in methods of making shoes having cementeattached outsoles which comprisesapplying to the margin of a shoe up-.-

per a strip of woven tape having .cellulose ester warp threads and cotton filler threads, securing.

said cotton filler threads to the upper by rows of stitches extending substantially parallel to said warp threads, lasting the upper and securing its overlasted margin to an insole, softening the warp threads of said tape with acetone, and shortly thereafter applying an outsole to they shoe bottom and maintaining the shoe and outsole under. pressure until the cement formed by the action of the solvent-upon the warp threads.

of the tape has set sufliciently to secure the outsole to the shoe. r

6. That improvement in attaching the marginal portions of shoe parts which; comprises applying tothe marginaliportion of. one shoe part a strip of textile fabric having threads come prising fibers convertible intocement by theaction thereon of a selected" solvent and having transversely extending ,threads comprising fibers insoluble in said solvent, ,securing said transversely extending threads to said shoe part by means of fastenings insoluble in said solvent applying. a quantity of the selected solvent to said strip of fabric, and shortly thereafter pressing said parts together' and maintaining the pressure'until' the cement formed by the action of the solvent on the-longitudinal strands ofthe fabric has set sufficiently to hold said parts together.

facturing shoes which comprises applying progressively along the marginal portion of a shoe upper from approximatelythe heel breast. line at one side around the toe to approximately the heel breast line on the opposite side of the upper a strip of textile fabric comprising threads which are readily soluble in a selected solvent toform cement and transversely extending threads I which are relatively insoluble in said solvent and securing said strip to the upper'bya pluralityof. approximately parallel rows of stitching-em.

tending lengthwise of said strip and engaging vsaid relatively insoluble threads, assembling the upper and an insole'upon a last, lasting the shoe and securing the overlasted margin of the upper together with said strip to, the insole, applying lying'an outsole to shoe bottom, and maintaining the shoe.

said. solvent to said strip; a

.55 7. That improvement in methods. of nian'uing threads which are relatively insoluble in said solvent and securing said strip to the upper by a plurality of rows of stitching extending approximately parallel to the edge of .the upper and engaging said relatively insoluble threads. assembling the upper with an insole on alast, lasting the shoe, securing the overlasted margin of the upper together with said strips to the insole, applying said solvent to said strips, and shortly thereafter applying a sole -tothe shoe bottom and maintaining the shoe and sole under pressure until the cement formed by .the action of the solvent upon said soluble threads. has set suillciently to securethe sole to the shoe.

9. That improvement in methods of making shoeshaving cement-attached outsoles which consists in applying to the margin of a "shoe upper a woven tape having cellulose acetatewarp threads and cotton weft threads and securing said tape to the upper. by cotton stitches'encir cling said weft threads, lasting the upper, ap-.

plying to said tape a solvent for said warp threads thereby softening the latter to" form cement, and applying asole to the shoe bottom and maintaining the sole andthe shoe under pressure until saidcement has set sufilciently to secure the sole to the shoe; v

10. A shoe upper having a strip of textile fabric extending peripherally of and lying flat against the marginal portion of the upper, said strip having threads comprising cellulose derivative fibers adapted to be converted into cement by the application thereto 01' a selected solvent and having transversely extending threads com-.

prising fibers of a'material relatively insoluble in said solvent, and stitches securing said transversely extending threads-to the upper.

ll. A* shoe upper having a strip of woven fabstantially parallel to ric extending peripherally of and. lying flat against the- ,marginal portion of the upper, said strip comprising warp threads composed of cel:

'lulose ester fibers and cotton filler threads, and

a plurality of rows of stitchingof thread composed of relatively insoluble material extending substantially parallel to the edge of the upper and securing said cotton filler threadsv to the upper v v 12. A shoe upper having a strip of fabric stitched fiat against and extending peripherally of its marginal portion,-said fabric containing relatively soluble cellulose derivative fibers.

13. A shoe upper having a strip of textile fabric secured fiat against and extending peripherally of the marginal portion of the upper, some of the threads constituting said strip being composed of a relatively soluble material, and said' strip being secured to the upper by means of f -stitches extending substantially parallel to the edge of the upper and engaging transversely extending threads of the strip.

14. A shoe comprising an outsole, an upper having its marginal portion secured to the outsole by means of cement, and a coherent network of strands of fibrous material embedded in the cement and including a plurality of rows of stitches extending substantially parallel to the edge of the upper and anchoring the remainder of said network to the upper.

15. A shoe comprising an insole, an outsole, an-

upper having its marginal portion secured. in overlasted relation to the insole, a layer of cement interposed between the margin of the upper and the outsole, and a multiplicity of strands of fibrous material embedded in said layer of. ce-

ment and anchored to the upper by means of fastening devices. e

16. A shoe' comprising an insole, an outsole, an upper having its marginal portion secured in overlasted relation to theinsole a layer of cement interposed between the margin of the upper and the outsole, a multiplicity of threads embedded in said.- layer of. cement and extendingtransversely of the margin of the outsole, and 45 a plurality of rows ing said threads with the upper.

JAMES CAVANAGH.

of stitches extending subthe edge of the upper unit- 

